Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Religious Music and Entertainment
The Temptation of Schism

The Temptation of Schism

Last updated on: November 12, 2019 at 6:31 pm by Chase Padusniak

The Temptation of Schism 2019-11-12T18:31:43-04:00 Chase Padusniak

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I have yet to see an Orthodox friend discuss this. I don’t blame them. It’s traumatic. You have the head of the most populace Orthodox Church breaking communion with individual bishops, including two of the most important in the Orthodox communion. This is worrying. It seems irresolvable. It’s enough to squelch hope if confronted directly. Metropolitan Hilarion, spokesman for the Russian Church, has said as much:

I should say that the rupture with Constantinople has not affected in any way the internal life of the Russian Orthodox Church, including its self-governed part – the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, we continue living as we used to live, we continue serving as we used to serve, we continue celebrating as we used to celebrate Pascha and other great feasts. We have not felt any damage done by this rapture.

The Patriarchate of Constantinople has made a great mistake, and it continues insisting on this mistake, demanding that other Local Churches should recognize the so-called ‘Orthodox Church of Ukraine’ as well. However, we can see that the OCU has not succeeded as a Church. From the very beginning, it was made up of two schismatic groups; within only a few months of its existence, it has had time to divide into two parts, and the church people have not followed this group. Patriarch Bartholomew assumed that the episcopate of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church would join this group as soon as it received a tomos of autocephaly. The tomos was received but the episcopate remained rallied around His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy; the hierarchs of the Ukrainian Church have stated their desire to preserve unity with the Russian Orthodox Church and their full satisfaction with the present status of the Church. It is quite clear that the schism has not been overcome; on the contrary, there is a deepening division. (Russian Orthodox Church Department for External Church Relations)

Things are getting worse, not better. What to make of this? How to take all this idle talk and obstinate action?

Regarding these questions, I find myself thinking about my friend Nathan Smolin’s wonderful essay on the Schism of 1054. One fact shines through in his study: people are sinful and they will find about any conceivable reason to grandstand, to fight. Rarely are actual theological problems the cause of schism, though these may be invoked. More often do we find pride at the heart of these matters; we discover that any number of arguments may be shuffled about to disguise the solitary reality that human beings relish in using their limited time on this earth to lash out, to denigrate, to laud, and to damn.

I do not mean to seem reductive. Bad faith is not ubiquitous. All men are not liars. But the fact remains that each of us (myself included) carries his prejudices with him as he walks the road of life. Rigorous self-examination is hard. Harder still is escape from the trap of self-delusion. And so, even the best intentions become excuses for vitriol and viciousness. The best laid schemes o’ mice n’ men gang aft agley.

Each of us bears the terrible truth that our life is finite, that death waits, peaking through at this moment and that, ready to strike who knows when. Time is short and glory seems far off. The life of humble labor is difficult, still more the life of humility in the face of grand historical forces. And so, we stand up; and so, we take sides. The eschaton is here and now—the right must be proven right and the wrong must be proven wrong. Quiet contemplation and prayerful self-accusation have no place when there are ecclesial wars to be won.

Go back Continue Reading

Previous Post

November 4, 2019

Dare We Hope That All Men Not Be Ideologues?

Next Post

November 14, 2019 Evangelical Christianity: The American Imperial Church?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Academia Culture Politics Reviews Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 December 2020 November 2020 July 2020 May 2020 April 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 August 2019 July 2019 April 2019 March 2019 December 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who prepared spices for Jesus' burial?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Mary Mary Magdalene Salome Martha